ON SCREEN: Pinocchio

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~          
eye WEEKLY                                               July 25, 1996          
Toronto's arts newspaper                      .....free every Thursday          
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~          
ON SCREEN                                                    ON SCREEN          
                                                                                
                              PINOCCHIO                                         
                                                                                
Starring Martin Landau and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Screenplay by                
Sherry Mills, Steve Barron, Tom Benedek and Barry Berman. Directed by           
Steve Barron.  Opens July 26.                                                   
                                                                                
                           (eee of 5 eyes)                                      
                                                                                
                                  by                                            
                  PINOCCHIO, A.K.A. PAMELA CUTHBERT                             
                                                                                
Beverly Hills                                                                   
July, 1996                                                                      
Letter to: Geppetto (a.k.a. Papa)                                               
From: Pinocchio Esq.                                                            
                                                                                
Dear Geppetto,                                                                  
                                                                                
I want to thank you for striking that lucrative deal for The                    
Adventures Of Pinocchio. As far as I can recall, it's the first time            
anyone has paid us so much as a nickel for our story. Aren't the '90s           
great?                                                                          
                                                                                
The moola got me what I've wanted for so many years: to become a real           
man. Being a real boy was great for a while, but after more than 100            
years, it got tedious. I figured you wouldn't mind, since we outgrew            
that father-son relationship long ago.                                          
                                                                                
I saw the movie the other day and I have to say that you were just              
marvelous. Did you turn into this Martin Landau character with the              
help of the Blue Fairy? (And why wasn't she in the movie -- personal            
problems?) Whatever -- you took me back to those less complicated               
days, when we didn't have to deal with pool-boys, agents and                    
newshounds.                                                                     
                                                                                
The special effects -- especially when it came time to turn the boys            
into donkeys -- were very impressive. As for my animatronic stand-in,           
it was quite perfect and got very close to capturing the boy/puppet             
dichotomy of my earlier self. I was sorry I couldn't be on set to do            
the real-boy part myself and I thought Jonathan Taylor Thomas in my             
place was just too damn cute.                                                   
                                                                                
Which brings me to the one major problem I have with the movie: the             
lack of mischief in my stand-in. He was downright sanitized! Have you           
forgotten the trouble and anguish I caused you when I was a puppet?             
And the valuable lessons I learned along the bumpy road to boyhood?             
Maybe it's not your fault at all; perhaps you had no control over the           
screenplay.                                                                     
                                                                                
For the most part, I thought it was good fun, if a bit lax in the               
adaptation. I have to remind myself of the revisionist age we're                
living in and be thankful for how little the story got screwed up. And          
I was relieved to see only one of those gushing musical numbers that            
seem to plague kids' movies these days.                                         
                                                                                
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~          
Retransmit freely in cyberspace        Author holds standard copyright          
http://www.eye.net                              Mailing list available          
collected reviews --------------------> http://www.eye.net/Arts/Movies          
eye@eye.net          "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..."     416-971-8421